Thursday, August 13, 2026

February 2026

Charlie had his first SLUH event - a welcome to the class of 2030. Here is a picture of him with some of the other boys from his grade school.
I accompanied a group of students to the Arrupe Leader's Summit in North East, MD.  It was bitterly cold. Here is a view of the Chesapeake from my room.  
While I was in Maryland, Jim took the kids to Milwaukee to see Jack compete in a curling competition. 

I was bummed to miss it, but heard it was very cool to see.
It was so cold I didn't even want to step outside the conference center, but I was treated to many cool views from the windows.
Our group did brave the weather briefly for a picture. 
Over President's Day weekend, we went to Echo Bluff State Park with Matt and Sue.  We went to mass at a small church nearby and the boys helped rearrange the altar afterwards. 
We drove to my cousins' farm one day.

If there are rocks and a river, you can bet you will find us skipping rocks.



We enjoyed a hike in the state park.

We had beautiful weather for February. 

I wish Jack could have joined us.
This is a cool picture Jim took of the lodge.

We completed this puzzle.
A cute selfie of Jim and his favorite daughter:
One weekend, I joined the rugby team for an all-day retreat.
While I was at the retreat, Jim, Patrick, and Charlie went to a campout on a family's farm.
The boys got to throw axes.

They cooked a delicious dinner.
Maggie and Charlie competed in the robotics competition. 




These girls made a croissant out of clay for one of their challenges. 
Patrick was helping another school's robotics club, so we were happy to see him.  Doesn't Charlie look happy?
Owen helped with the robotics club at Charlie's and Maggie's school.
After the robotics competition, I took Maggie to her basketball game. Her coach couldn't be there, so I was the stand-in coach.  We only had four players.  I did the best I could.
Then, after her basketball game, she was a cantor at 5pm Mass.  It was a busy day for Maggie!

Friday, July 31, 2026

January 2026

We said good-bye to a large tree in our front yard at the beginning of January. We were home for Christmas break and were able to watch the progress from the window.  Connie was in town and spent the day with us.
We were sad to see the tree go, but seeing it's hollow trunk confirmed our decision. 
We had additional friends over to play games that evening.
Maggie's choir sang in a Christmas concert for the Epiphany. 
Jack came to visit me at school. Patrick came by the math department and we got a picture. 
I went on a Kairos retreat with juniors.  Here is a picture from a walk during down time. 
While I was on retreat, Jim and the kids went to a Billiken basketball game.
Charlie caught a ball from the Billiken! 
Charlie played in a final season of flag football.  This game was pretty miserable (for me, at least).

Maggie had to have a couple teeth extracted.  She was a trooper!
Maggie and some friends went to an escape room.
They escaped! 

More snow!

We got about 8 inches of the white stuff. 
Maggie got to go sledding with friends on her birthday. 
Queen of the Snow Pile!
We started a home project of opening up the wall from our kitchen to the den. So exciting!
It was a small group for Family Lunch Day this year (just me, Charlie, and Maggie), so we joined friends to picnic on the gym floor.
The 8th grade played in the annual 8th grade vs. teacher volleyball game.  Charlie is in an orange Lego costume with a Batman mask.
After school the students got their high school acceptance letters.  Charlie is excited to head to SLUH in the Fall!

The kids (and parents) were excited to celebrate together that evening!

I made cookies.
We celebrated Maggie's birthday with the family.  She requested an ice cream cake.
Happy 12th birthday, sweet girl!